Acts 4–5

Chapter 4

Peter and John Arrested

¹As they were speaking to the people, the priests and ^athe captain of the temple guard and ^bthe Sadducees ^ccame up to them,

²being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming ^1ain Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³And they laid hands on them and ^aput them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.

⁴But many of those who had heard the ¹message believed; and ^athe number of the men came to be about five thousand.

⁵On the next day, their ^arulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem;

⁶and ^aAnnas the high priest was there, and ^bCaiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent.

⁷When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

⁸Then Peter, ^1afilled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “^2bRulers and elders of the people,

⁹if we are ¹on trial today for ^aa benefit done to a sick man, ²as to how this man has been made well,

¹⁰let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that ^1aby the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom ^bGod raised from the dead—by ²this name this man stands here before you in good health.

¹¹“^1aHe is the ^bstone which was ^crejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone.

¹²“And there is salvation in ^ano one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Threat and Release

¹³Now as they observed the ^aconfidence of ^bPeter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and ^cbegan to recognize them ¹as having been with Jesus.

¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.

¹⁵But when they had ordered them to leave the ^1aCouncil, they began to confer with one another,

¹⁶saying, “^aWhat shall we do with these men? For the fact that a ^bnoteworthy ¹miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷“But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man ^ain this name.”

¹⁸And when they had summoned them, they ^acommanded them not to speak or teach at all ¹in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But ^aPeter and John answered and said to them, “^bWhether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;

²⁰for ^awe cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) ^aon account of the people, because they were all ^bglorifying God for what had happened;

²²for the man was more than forty years old on whom this ¹miracle of healing had been performed.

²³When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O ¹Lord, it is You who ^amade the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

²⁵who ^aby the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,

‘^bWhy did the ¹Gentiles rage,

And the peoples devise futile things?

²⁶‘^aThe kings of the earth ¹took their stand,

And the rulers were gathered together

Against the Lord and against His ^2bChrist.’

²⁷“For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy ^1aservant Jesus, whom You anointed, both ^bHerod and ^cPontius Pilate, along with ^dthe ²Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

²⁸to do whatever Your hand and ^aYour purpose predestined to occur.

²⁹“And ¹now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may ^aspeak Your word with all ^bconfidence,

³⁰while You extend Your hand to heal, and ^1asigns and wonders take place through the name of Your holy ^2bservant Jesus.”

³¹And when they had prayed, the ^aplace where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all ^bfilled with the Holy Spirit and began to ^cspeak the word of God with ^dboldness.

Sharing among Believers

³²And the ¹congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them ²claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but ^aall things were common property to them.

³³And ^awith great power the apostles were giving ^btestimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

³⁴For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses ^awould sell them and bring the ¹proceeds of the sales

³⁵and ^alay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be ^bdistributed to each as any had need.

³⁶Now Joseph, a Levite of ^aCyprian birth, who was also called ^bBarnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of ^1cEncouragement),

³⁷and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and ^alaid it at the apostles’ feet.

Chapter 5

Fate of Ananias and Sapphira

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

²and ^akept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s ¹full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he ^blaid it at the apostles’ feet.

³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^aSatan filled your heart to lie ^bto the Holy Spirit and to ^ckeep back some of the price of the land?

⁴“While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not ¹under your control? Why is it that you have ²conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but ^ato God.”

⁵And as he heard these words, Ananias ^afell down and breathed his last; and ^bgreat fear came over all who heard of it.

⁶The young men got up and ^acovered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land ^1afor such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to ^aput ^bthe Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

¹⁰And immediately she ^afell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And ^agreat fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

¹²¹At the hands of the apostles many ^asigns and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in ^bSolomon’s portico.

¹³But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, ^athe people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And all the more ^abelievers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly ^badded to their number,

¹⁵to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by ^aat least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

¹⁶Also the ¹people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick ²or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

Imprisonment and Release

¹⁷But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is ^athe sect of ^bthe Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸They laid hands on the apostles and ^aput them in a public jail.

¹⁹But during the night ^aan angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said,

²⁰“Go, stand and ¹speak to the people in the temple ^2athe whole message of this Life.”

²¹Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple ^aabout daybreak and began to teach.

Now when ^bthe high priest and his associates came, they called ^cthe ¹Council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought.

²²But ^athe officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported back,

²³saying, “We found the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we had opened up, we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when ^athe captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what ¹would come of this.

²⁵But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then ^athe captain went along with ^bthe officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for ^cthey were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

²⁷When they had brought them, they stood them ¹before ^athe Council. The high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you ^astrict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and ¹yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and ^bintend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “^aWe must obey God rather than men.

³⁰“^aThe God of our fathers ^braised up Jesus, ¹whom you had ^cput to death by hanging Him on a ²cross.

³¹“^aHe is the one whom God exalted ¹to His right hand as a ^2bPrince and a ^cSavior, to grant ^drepentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

³²“And we are ^awitnesses ¹of these things; and ^bso is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Gamaliel’s Counsel

³³But when they heard this, they were ^acut ¹to the quick and intended to kill them.

³⁴But a Pharisee named ^aGamaliel, a ^bteacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in ^cthe Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men.

³⁶“For some time ago Theudas rose up, ^aclaiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. ¹But he was killed, and all who ²followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷“After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of ^athe census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who ¹…